


Fear of change

by Morbid1Curiosity



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:06:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24851284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morbid1Curiosity/pseuds/Morbid1Curiosity
Summary: Change is inevitable. Yet we fear change because it will reshape the world we know right now. While it might bring good, the reason we fear it is strictly because it might as well do the opposite. Bring misery into our lives.
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	Fear of change

**Author's Note:**

> I finished watching all the seasons of spop and I thought I'd celebrate that with a little Oneshot. Enjoy.

Jumping from tree to tree surely felt different than climbing buildings. Using branches instead of metal pipes or other objects sticking from various structures. There was a different texture to stone and alloys than there was to bark, it felt strange against her palms. If anything, this tree hopping made her feel more like a monkey rather than herself. Still, Catra enjoyed this. It was one of those things that she promised herself to not grow soft on. Herself. Well, it was also fun. As she was about to make another jump, her hands didn't let go of the branch she was currently holding. Instead, the momentum made her spin around it, which managed to kill that energy, thus making her body slow down, to finally hold any forward motion. Once that done, she hopped onto the branch she was previously holding onto. Taking a deep breath, she glanced around. Green, green as far as her eyes could see. It all felt... Odd? Odd was a good word, as this feeling was neutral, confusing, and without an answer. This feeling was towards nature that now surrounded her. It's not that she hated it, no. She was neutral towards it. She neither enjoyed it any more than anything else in her life nor did her hate for it spike above the norm. She knew why that was, it wasn't really some sort of riddle. She was used to the Fright Zone. Place where the sun never shone. Place where there were only fumes spewed from the endless chimneys whenever you glanced up. It was a rough environment. Rough, ugly. Yet, there was some charm to it. Place of her upbringing, how could she hate it? Well, even she could find a few reasons. Maybe a few dozens of reasons to hate it. Regardless, it would always hold a... A specific place in her heart. Not special, just specific. Would that change? The Fright Zone, that is. Once everything settles, what will become of it? How did the kingdom, on which ruins Hordak created his empire, looked like before all of this happened? Would Scorpia rebuild it? How would she rebuild it? She was just like her, wasn't she? Fright Zone of today was all she knew. So many questions. Her eyes grew wide as she realized how true her statement was. After all of what happened, there were just endless questions. Questions of change.

Her ears twitched as she heard a sound. Not any sound, but footsteps to be precise and not just any footsteps, but made by someone she knew. Someone special. This made her smile, even before she heard the voice that echoed through the woods. Her keen senses allowed her to know that someone was approaching even before that person revealed themself. This gave her precisely enough time to form a plan in her head. "Catra!" The voice called out. Yet the cat in question didn't react, didn't answer didn't even move. She waited. Unprovoked, she was a patient hunter. Sometimes. "Catra! I know you're here!" Another yell. She could hear the frustration in the voice. This would only aid her in the hunt. Regardless of her plan, Catra found that she couldn't, as much as she tried, to remove the big smile on her face. Perhaps the smile was so persistent because there were multiple reasons for it to be there? Perhaps. The sole idea that the owner of the voice was looking for her. The little plan she had ready. The potential outcome of that plan. It all mixed together to form a big grin on Catra's lips. But there was no room for any more pointless thoughts. Her prey was approaching, it was time to reveal herself. She applied more pressure to one of her legs, this made the branch she was on shake slightly. The sound was enough for the approaching person to notice her. "Catra! There you are." As the catgirl looked in the direction of the voice, she had to use all her will power to not just abandon her initial plan and tackle her. Who? Adora, who else. The blonde was looking for her and she could just jump into her arms. She could, but there was no fun in it, right? She didn't want to seem boring to the other girl. Flashing a grin, she jumped onto a branch of the neighboring tree. She didn't stop there, as she continued to jump. "Catra? Catra! Wait! Stop!" She heard Adora yell after her.

Catra couldn't look behind her to see the expression Adora made, although she could portray the frustration, maybe even annoyance and anger on the blonde's face. Delightful. She loved to tease her. Still, the hunt was on, she had to focus. Since her eyes were out of the question, she had to use her ears to determine if Adora was after her, which she was. The other girl never was much for stealth unless she really had to, as such it was easy to hear her heavy footsteps, the crunching of the grass under her boots. Right now Catra was busy buying time, creating more distance between herself and the other girl. It was hard since Adora had the advantage of having to just run on a flat surface. As such, Catra's eyes were constantly scanning the next few branches she would jump onto. She had to be a few steps ahead otherwise it would all be for nothing. Scan the environment, determine the route, jump, and repeat. All that while being on alert of the sound behind her and still remembering there was a bigger picture plan in all of this. She might not be a princess, but she could still handle herself in other, more mundane ways. Her ears twitched, the distance was slowly building up. This wasn't right or rather this wasn't supposed to happen. Adora needed a little boost. She took the extra effort to focus on what was before her, she needed to memorize her next moves extra in order to do what she was about to do. "Already growing soft on me? Can't keep up?" She taunted the blonde. Trying to keep her demeanor sarcastic and collected took some effort, especially since she had to hide all that effort behind a mask made out of the thing it took an effort to build up in the first place. How complicated it was to weave all those plans and intrigues. That or she was just natural in hiding her true feelings. Never showing weakness was something quite important in the military. And her life.

There was no point in thinking about that, it was today that she had to worry about. She hoped that her little taunt would work, since she couldn't slow down herself, losing momentum in her position was worse in case she miscalculated. Planning wasn't just about doing things as best as you could, it was also assessing risks. Luckily she didn't have to, Adora sped up, good. What she didn't account for was that Adora could actually muster enough speed to start killing the distance between them at such a rapid pace. This wasn't right, this couldn't be right. She didn't hear the girl summon her powers, or were her ears failing her? She had to take the risk. Looking over her shoulder, she did it just in time to see the blonde jumping at her. This was enough to freeze her in place for a split second. Enough for the girl to tackle her off of the tree branch. Catra couldn't help but groan as they quickly started to approach the ground level. Her body screamed at her to reposition itself properly, but she couldn't. Not while the other girl was holding her. Midway through the fall, she prepared herself to hit the ground. Hard. Which never came. She felt the other girl shift enough so that their bodies would spin in the air, planned, or simply by luck, they spun enough for the blonde to be the one hitting the ground first. At least the initial impact was softened by her body.

While this ruined her plans a little, she simply had to adapt. As they hit the ground, they started to tumble across the grass. It was subtle, but Catra shifted her body weight here and there, she had to end up in just the right position. It would be a shame if all of their game was for nothing, now wouldn't it? Finally stopping, Catra opened her eyes only to see the blonde leaning over her, hair glued to her face with patches of dirt here and there from their tumble across the grass. Adora was breathing heavily, something Catra found her own body mirroring at the moment. Just how fast and how far did they manage to run? "Hey, Adora." She grinned up at her.

"What was that about?!" Adora was too honest to pull it off, yet she still attempted to fake her anger, which if anyone asked Catra wasn't half bad, at least for the girl in question. Although the real annoyance had to help that quite a bit.

"I thought we could use a little exercise." She explained, raising one of her hands to gently brush aside a few of Adora's bangs off of her face. Gently, as to not accidentally cut the girl's skin with her sharp claws. "So, what's up?" She tried to act casual, she really did, but it all failed. She was already enjoying the sight before her too much. Especially once she noticed how close their faces were. This softened her features into a small smile, as she felt her cheeks grow warm.

"I... Well, I couldn't find you anywhere and I thought... I mean, I just panicked a tiny bit." There was no visible joy in Adora's face. She wasn't enjoying the game. This broke Catra's heart, as she never intended to upset the girl. "Then you started running away when I called out to you." She liked to tease the girl, but there was always a reward at the end. She wanted them to have fun. To enjoy themselves. "It didn't help." Adora finished, her voice barely audible, even for the catgirl.

Catra reached with her other hand to gently grasp Adora's face, as she lowered it till their foreheads meet. "I'm not going anywhere, either you like it or not, I'll be by your side forever." She looked deeply into Adora's blue eyes. Just the simple thought of drowning in those two pools every night made her incredibly happy.

Her reassuring words had to work, at least to some extent, as Catra felt one of her hands being gently grasped, she felt Adora's thumb tenderly brush over her fingers. "Promise?"

"I promise." She said, her smile growing. She noticed that Adora glanced to her left. This made the catgirl blush, as she glanced to the right. Their eyes meet once more and they shared a small nod. It didn't take a second before she felt Adora's lips press against hers. Catra noticed something whenever they kissed lately. It was nowhere as flashy, for lack of a better word, like their first kiss. Although the circumstances were quite different back then, weren't they? Still, did it feel good? Oh, it did. If anyone asked, she could live just for those short moments.

As the kiss ended, their faces shared the mark of their embarrassment, both gaining a darker tone. While there was no direct eye contact, they shared a few glances at each other, exactly at the same moment when the other decided to do so. Was it luck or something else, Catra wasn't sure, but it made her happy regardless of what was the cause of such. Even now she could feel her heart beating at a rapid pace. The light feeling in her chest. It all filled her with joy. At the same time, those feelings put a weight of responsibility onto her shoulders.

"Hey, Adora? I'm..." She paused, it was still hard to apologize, after all, Adora knew that she was sorry, right? "I mean, I didn't mean to worry you." She started softly, realizing too late that her words might ruin the mood. "I guess I can't pretend that it could be like the old days, at least not for a short while." She tried to make it seem less... Less what? Important? Heavy? She just didn't want it all to seem like she was trying to make them talk about bad things, is all. Yet, there was no avoiding it. Even if she tried to smile while saying those things.

"W-What? no! I mean, of course, they can be like that! We're together again, I mean, again and in a new way." Adora answered, with both the same energy that Catra expected her. This together with lack of any real plan as to where to take her little speech. Just improvise and hope for the best. How typical of Adora, yet still amusing.

"Adora." She called out to the other girl before she could continue with her verbal equivalent of spray and pray. Gently grasping her cheeks, she made her focus those blue eyes back on her. "It's fine." She smiled a soft and genuine smile. So rare for her nowadays. "I know you won't think I'm here to backstab any of you. At the same time? I understand that things simply won't work the same as they did before." She paused, there was a bitter pill to swallow. It always seemed so trivial in her mind, yet to say it out loud? To make this a definitive truth? It was quite... Heavy. "We changed. We aren't as we used to be."

There was silence after her words. Catra wasn't sure what to think of it. Adora stared down at her, thoughtfully looking her in the eyes. Was she trying to look into her soul? Her mind? Was that something She-ra could do now? If that was the case, Hey, Adora. How silly, of course, she couldn't. This was made even more apparent as the blonde grabbed her hands suddenly, startling her with how out of nowhere it all seemed. "You're right." She joined her hands, grabbing them and clutching them to her chest. "We changed and things can't go back to how it was before." Adora shook her head. "But you know? That's even better." The girl grinned, only further confusing the catgirl with her behavior and words.

"It is?" Catra asked without even thinking. She didn't know that this conversation would go this way, even if it was because of her own words. It was like a slippery slope that she just couldn't stop her mind from taking and just dash down into the abyss of her most dark thoughts.

"Yes!" Adora nodded, releasing Catra's hands, the blonde moved to brush her palms against the catgirl's cheeks. "Don't you get it? We can't make it work as it worked before, because everything changed. Not just us. We have to make something new, from the scraps of the old." Adora grinned as if she just figured it out on her own.

Did she? Of course not. Catra was well aware of it. Perhaps Adora was as well, and the triumphant announcement was for the same reason that she herself was confused. Not even confused, but scared. There was simply a big difference between being aware of something deep inside your mind and saying it out loud, especially to someone. Someone concerned by it. Adora had to notice that on her face. Doubt? Fear? How exactly did her face look right now? Catra wasn't sure. It couldn't look good, from how Adora reacted to it. "What's wrong?" The other girl leaned away just a bit, enough to look her over.

"What if you... I mean, what if it won't work out?" There, she said it. It wasn't just the fear of admitting to it, as if the idea of change would affect her. She had a more important, more personal reason to be afraid of suggesting that. This simple question that fully covered all her fears... No, not her fears, she wasn't afraid. She was worried. That's it. This question covered all her worries.

Adora smiled warmly in response, wrapping Catra's head with her hands as she lowered her face to once more look her in the eyes. "I'll never stop loving you." Catra's eyes went wide, through all the moments where Adora was an idiot, this was the one moment she actually pieced things together. It felt stupid, she felt stupid, as her eyes glanced to the side. "Through all these crazy things that happened, I always cared for you. I always hoped that... That we could be reunited." Adora continued and the weight of her words was too much.

She grabbed Adora's shoulders and using all her strength, pushed the girl to reverse their positions. This time it was Catra that looked down at the blonde. She placed her hands on the ground on the opposite sides of Adora's head, her claws digging into the dirt. She didn't mean to, but before she could notice that her body was doing that, it was too late. "What if I do something stupid again? Every time something changed, it changed for the worst with me. Each time I did worse and worse things." It all felt like she wasn't in control anymore. It all felt like her body didn't belong to her like she was being accused by someone else. Moving her hands up, she looked at them. Dirt, from earlier as well as from just a moment ago. Then a single droplet of water hit her palm, followed by another. "Sometimes..." She began quietly, observing as the tears moved through the dirt on her hands. "...I don't know if I can trust myself, then why should anyone else?"

"Catra." Adora spoke softly, grasping the catgirl's hands once more. "Is this..." She paused. "Hey, move up." She said, gently lifting her up. Catra didn't feel like being stubborn, not right now. She moved up, letting the other girl sit up. Before she could do the same, she was pulled onto the blonde's lap and hugged. It wasn't something she expected, then again what did she expect? She felt lost and vulnerable. If anything, this felt perfect. She leaned against the girl, nuzzling into her chest. "There we go, it's all fine now." Catra could feel the other girl's hand moving through her hair, rubbing against her ears. It felt comforting, but not enough to get this heavyweight off of her chest.

"It's not." She mumbled back.

"It is." Adora retorted. "All our lives we were shaped by an outside force. All our lives till up recently." She paused, leaving Catra confused and waiting for more. "Shadow Weaver, Light hope and later hatred or sense of duty that blossomed from the previous two." Adora shook her head. "Not till recently were we able to really decide what we want for ourselves. Who we want to be and what do we want from life." It took Catra a moment, but it clicked inside her head. Although it wasn't all hatred on her part. It was far more complicated than that. Maybe it was the same with Adora? It was just simplifying it to make a point. Maybe. Still, she got it. She understood what Adora was saying.

"What if this change in the future tears us apart like last time." Catra mumbled, she felt safe enough in Adora's arms to be stubborn once more, even if ironically towards the same thing that made her feel safe in the first place.

Adora didn't answer immediately, her words came after a long while. "I guess this time we have a bunch of friends to look after us, right?" The blonde offered with a sheepish grin.

"So it's in the hands of others huh?" This wasn't a very satisfying answer, not to Catra. She preferred to hold her fate in her own hands.

"Of course not, we were younger and less experienced. If anything serious happens in the future we will be prepared for it." Adora lowered her head to get closer to Catra's face. "We changed, but remember that in the end, this change molded us to be better."

There wasn't much that Catra could say back to it. She hated losing, it frustrated her. Still, if there was something she preferred to lose, it would be this specific argument. It didn't mean she didn't feel frustrated by it. "Ugh, I'm pathetic." She commented, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. "Weren't it you who felt insecure or something and that why you looked for me? And here you are, comforting me." She let a deep, heavy sigh. "I'm horrible at this girlfriend stuff."

What she received in return was something that Catra didn't expect. Laughter. "H-Hey, what's so funny?!" She sat up and pushed the girl, although, considering the fact she was sitting at her lap, this didn't take her too far. Especially since she didn't put too much behind said push. To answer her question, Adora didn't use words. She simply hugged her tightly. "A-Adora?" This didn't make much sense.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't laugh at you, it's just..." The blonde paused. "You say those things because you care. You want it to work. You're worried." She sniffled, making Catra's ears twitch at the sound. "It's the same for me a-and..." Adora paused.

At that point, their eyes meet and Catra grew worried. "You're crying." She stated the fact. Was it something she said again? Was she really a walking disaster?

In return, Adora moved her shoulder to try and wipe some of her tears with it, at least from one side of her face. This came with mixed success, to no surprise. "It's because I'm happy." She said as a big smile blossomed on her lips. "I love you." She finished.

This made Catra's eyes grew wide in shock, as she felt her face warm up. "Khh, idiot!" She retorted and punched the other girl's shoulder, although if anyone asked it had to be the lightest punch she ever offered. Turning around she crossed her arms. "D-Don't say things like that. Not all of them at once at least!" Catra could hear laughter once more, or rather a soft giggle, as she felt Adora hug her from behind.

"Why? Embarrassed are we?" Catra could feel the other girl place her chin gently on her shoulder, resting her head against it.

"Pfsh, of course not." The catgirl turned her face away, as if afraid that Adora could still see it. Although while playfulness was in the air, she still didn't want to kill their previous topic. She needed one more thing from Adora before she could settle this. At least for now. "Hey, Adora?" She gently placed a hand on the other girl's cheek.

"Hm?" Perhaps it was the tone of voice that so suddenly shifted back to being serious, that froze any playful thoughts on Adora's mind as well. Catra was glad, as she used her hand to keep the other girl's head in place, as she leaned in to gently nuzzle against her cheek.

"Do you really believe that... That this will work out? That I... That nothing will mess this up?" While Catra knew what her answer would be, it still felt as if she asked of something uncertain.

Adora smiled, Catra could feel her muscles move against her face, the blonde nuzzling back at her. "I think it will. We're both very stubborn. But most importantly? We want this to work." She paused and once more, their closeness made Catra realize that the other girl inhaled deeply before continuing. "We will make it work."

The catgirl nodded lightly, mostly to not interrupt the fact that their faces were still very close and touching. "I trust you. If you say that it'll be fine, then I trust you."

"Good, those that mean you're feeling better?" Adora moved to sit in front of her.

Catra smiled and nodded. "Yeah, sorry for being a worrywart." Taking a deep breath she stretched slightly. "I guess we can go back, right? Since that's why you came looking for me in the first place."

There it was, no immediate answer... Which meant... "Actually." There it was, disagreement. Not that Catra minded, although it wasn't something she expected. "I caught you, didn't I?"

"Huh?" Catra blinked in confusion.

"When you started to run, remember? when I first found you? I caught you, right? Doesn't that mean I get a prize?" Adora grinned at her own words.

Catra blushed at the grin, just what kind of prize did she had on mind?" E-Eh? Oh, pfsh." even if caught redhanded or... red-faced, she would continue to play it cool. Growing flustered would only serve to give Adora what she wanted. That wouldn't come that easily. Not fully at least. "You did that only because I allowed for it. As if a slowpoke like you could ever catch me." She waved her hand dismissively.

"What if I catch you again? Would I get my prize then?" Adora's previous grin turned more... sinister. Catra wasn't liking where this was going.

"I-I guess so? W-What makes you so sure you'd catch me anyway huh?" Still, she couldn't show her worries, in case Adora was bluffing. She wasn't. At Catra's question, Adora raised her arm up towards the sky. Oh no. "A-Adora?!"

"For the honor..."

"A-Adora! That's cheating!" Catra caught herself wasting precious time. Time she could use to try and escape.

"...of Grayskull!" As Catra jumped to try and gain distance, she felt a hand grab her ankle. Big, strong hand, that would soon start to drag her towards the owner of said hand. As her claws dragged through the grass, Catra let out a deep sigh. Smirking and blushing, she decided that if she couldn't escape it, she might as well enjoy it, no?

**Author's Note:**

> I probably butchered what most people consider IC behavior for those two, but I tried my best. Regardless, I had fun writing this and I hope you enjoyed reading this at least to some extent. If people actually like this I might write a few more. I have a few more ideas circling around my head. If not? Well, I tried.


End file.
